Abstract:
Report Prepared by the Missouri Department of Conservation, Jerry Presley, Director, under Cooperative Agreement No. 14-45-0009-94-1019, with the National Biological Service

A Missouri survey for two plant species currently being considered for listing as endangered species by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service was conducted from April-December, 1995. The two species surveyed were a climbing ... milkweed, Matelea baldwyniana (Sweet) Woodson, and a false foxglove, Agalinis skinneriana (Wood) Britton. Sixteen sites were located for Matelea baldwyniana in five counties, reducing its range in Missouri from the twelve counties it was thought to occur in prior to this study. Matelea baldwyniana is restricted to five counties in southwest Missouri. Although restricted to one part of the state, it is now believed to be common within its range in Missouri. Agalinis skinneriana was recorded from twenty-three counties prior to this study; it is now known from seventeen sites in ten counties. All but one of the sites is located on the prairies and large glade complexes of southwest Missouri. The other site is a large glade complex in extreme eastern Missouri. Agalinis skinneriana is a rare plant, and in Missouri, is restricted to high-quality prairies and glades.

The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of two plant species in Missouri presently under consideration for protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. These two species, Matelea baldwyniana (Sweet Woodson and Agalinis skinneriana (Wood) Britton, are currently listed as candidates (C2) for federal listing by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Matelea baldwyniana and Agalinis skinneriana were both proposed for protection in 1990 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). At present both species are assigned Missouri statuses by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Matelea baldwyniana is listed as "status undetermined" (SU). Status undetermined is a standing given a species that may be rare or endangered, but whose status awaits further investigation before an accurate decision can be made. Agalinis skinneriana is listed as a "watch list" (WL) species. Watch list is a standing given to a species that is not currently rare or endangered, but whose distribution is either restricted or declining and thus may soon become rare or endangered.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has been tracking locations of Agalinis skinneriana since 1991 and Matelea baldwyniana since 1994. Location information as well as numbers of plants at a site and site characteristics are stored in the Missouri Natural Heritage Database. Because MDC began tracking these two species only recently, relatively few records had accumulated in the Heritage Database, and more information was needed to determine their current distribution and status. It was suspected at the beginning of this study that both species might be secure in Missouri. This was based both on Steyermark (1963), who showed both species to be well distributed in Missouri, and on recent Missouri collections, which had been made without any concerted effort to search for these species.

Quality
Prior to beginning fieldwork for either species, specimens from various herbaria were examined for both accuracy and label information. Erroneous records previously in the database were corrected.

Sites where searches were unsuccessful are presented \ in the appendices I and II.

Hays, J., 1995: A Missouri Survey for Climbing Milkweed. Jefferson City, Missouri; Missouri Department of Conservation under Cooperative Agreement with the National Biological Service (now known as Biological Resources Division U.S. Geological Survey)